Natural carob fiber and method of using same

ABSTRACT

A natural carob fiber includes 50-65% lignin, 15-25% cellulose, 15-25% hemicellulose, 0.5-2 % pectin, 3-7% tannins and 4-8% moisture. A method of using the natural carob fiber includes the step of ingesting the natural carob fiber.

This is a continuation of application Ser. No. 08/218,274, filed on Mar.25, 1994, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to a new natural product derived from thecarob, and which corresponds to the water insoluble fraction of the pulpobtained after eliminating all the water soluble material, followed bydrying and grinding to a desired granulometry for an intended market oruse.

More particularly, the invention relates to a new natural carob fiber(NCF) and a method for making the new natural carob fiber.

The field of application of the invention corresponds to the dieteticssector and the human food sector.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The fibers currently on the market are obtained mainly from cereals andare applied both to the field of dietetics and that of human food.

The effects which fiber has on the diet are well known in the field ofnutrition. Equally well recognized is the lack of fiber in modern dietsdue to changes in traditional dietary customs. Also well known is theinfluence which fiber has on the capture of fats in the intestines.Furthermore, the relationship between lipaemia and the ingestion of fatis generally accepted nowadays, as is its relationship to cardiovascularmorbidity and mortality whilst within this ingestion the cholesterolcontent and the type of fat in the diet are clear risk factors.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

The NCF fibre according to the present invention provides the marketwith a new product which, since it has the same nutritionalcharacteristics as currently known fibers, practically duplicates thehypocholesterol-aemiant effect, enabling the consequences of moderncholesterol-rich diets to be partially counteracted.

The patent application by the same applying Entity, presented on thesame date and entitled "A Syrup Consisting Of The Natural Carob Sugarsand A Process For Its Production", describes and claims a new processfor extracting and purifying the juice derived from the carob pulp toobtain a natural syrup of the carob sugars and a waste pulp whichcontains the insoluble fraction of the carob pulp.

The object of the present invention is to provide a new process which,starting with the above mentioned waste pulp, enables a new naturalcarob fiber (NCF) to be obtained.

Therefore, according to a first aspect, the invention relates to a newprocess for obtaining the natural carob fiber and includes the followingphases:

1. CLEANING THE CAROB

The fruit from the fields is normally accompanied by a series of foreignelements such as stones, twigs, metallic elements, as well as the earthwhich sticks to the carob, particularly if it was harvested during arainy period.

The first operation involves cleaning the carob of all of theseadditional elements by separating the foreign elements mechanically,cleaning the carob with water and drying to obtain the clean fruit, sothat the fruit is free of other material such that it is hygienicallyready to go on to the cutting up phase.

2. CUTTING UP

Taking advantage of the fragility of the carob and he hardness of theseed (Garrofin), it is passed through a hammer mill where the pod is cutup sufficiently to release the seed. In practice, it is crushed until itpasses through a perforated sheet sieve, with a hole diameter of 12 to20 mm, situated inside the mill.

This phase produces a raw material which fulfils the conditions ofhygiene required for food, something which is completely impossible whenusing the cut up product currently on the market since, because of itstraditional use as an ingredient of mixed feed, current installations donot fulfil the minimum sanitary requirements.

3. CLASSIFICATION

The cut up material obtained from the crushing mill is fed continuouslyinto a separator-sieve which includes various sieves which separate thegarrofin and the pulp according to whether the particles are less thanor equal to or greater than a size of the garrofin. This last fractionis re-fed to the mill in order to obtain a granulometry of less than 10mm.

A high granulometry prevents a good yield from being obtained in thefollowing phase of diffusion. The considerable formation of flour wouldobstruct the diffusion process and cause clogging problems.

A particle size of about 5/6 mm has to be aimed for, with the minimumformation of flour. Obviously the behavior of the fruit during themechanical process will be different depending on the humidity andagronomic variety, which implies the need for different adjustments .

4. EXTRACTION

The carob pulp, cut up to the appropriate granulometry, is fed into acontinuous extraction machine.

The output from this machine is a raw juice, dark brown in color, sweetwith a bitter aftertaste and with the characteristic odor of carob. Theother output produces a waste pulp soaked in water which contains theinsoluble fraction of the carob pulp.

The working conditions in this phase are:

Contact time: The pulp and the diffusion water must be in contact forthe minimum amount of time necessary, in order to avoid theproliferation of microorganisms and their corresponding infections. Thecontact time is between 1 and 3 hours depending on the variety andhumidity content,

The temperature is between 15 and 30 degrees centigrade.

The working pH is between 4.6 and 5.4, independently of the pH of thewater supply.

The output concentration is between 30 and 50 BRIX. Concentrations ofless than 30 BRIX are not advisable because of profitability in theevaporation stage, nor are concentrations greater than 50 BRIXrecommended due to problems in the filtration process and the passagethrough the demineralization columns.

5. PRESSING OF WASTE PULP

When the pulp comes out of the diffusor, the water content is very high:70-80%, i.e. 30-20% Dry Matter. It is essential to press the pulp beforeit is used in any way.

The pressing process enables a considerable proportion of the watercarried by the pulp to be extracted mechanically, the water stillcontaining in solution sugars and various non-sugars. This water is usedfor extracting the sugars in the previous stage, thereby achieving aconsiderable savings in water and avoiding undesirable wastage.

An efficient pressing process reduces the water content to 50-60%. i.e.50-40% dry matter. The water recovered by this procedure may form 37-47%of that carried by the puIp in the diffusion phase.

This operation is carried out using vertical or horizontal double orsingle helix continuous presses.

The working conditions in this phase are:

Drip time: This depends on the type of press.

The pressing temperature is related to the diffusion output, althoughconsidering that the lower the temperature, the higher the dynamicviscosity of the pressing water, It is not beneficial to store betweenthe two operations. A pH of between 6 and 5 can be considered as theoptimum value.

6. BREAKING UP

The greater the pressure exerted on the fiber during the pressingoperation, the greater the consistency of the fiber obtained as aresult, making it difficult to eliminate the moisture which it contains.In order to dry the fiber properly the pressed retort has to be brokenup. This is carried out by passing it continuously over a special millwhich breaks it up, leaving it in a state in which it can be dried.

The Working conditions in this phase are:

Time: instantaneous and continuous.

Room temperature.

7. DRYING

The moist fiber from the breaking up process is subjected to a dryingprocess to eliminate all excess moisture. This process is carried out inforced hot air current ovens and is followed by cooling down to roomtemperature.

After the process, the fiber should have a moisture content of less than5% in order that the grinding process can be carried out under goodconditions.

Apart from eliminating the excess water, this operation also eliminatesa series of volatile, unanalyzed substances which deodorize the fiber.

The Working conditions in this phase are:

Drying time: depends on the initial moisture content until a reductionto <5%.

Temperature: 120°+/-10° C.

8. GRINDING

The dry fiber is converted into a flour by means of a traditionalgrinding process.

The Working conditions are:

Granulometry: between 50 and 250 mesh (ASTM E11-70).

9. SIEVING

The flour from the mills is sieved according to the variousgranulometries using industrial sieving equipment. Under normalconditions the rejected material is re-fed to the grinding operationwhere it re-enters the circuit.

The suitably sized fiber is packed in sacks or stored and is ready fordistribution.

The accompanying drawing FIG. 1 illustrates schematically the process ofthe invention.

Having described the process of the present invention it only remains tobe said that during the course of the process other products areobtained. In phase 3 garrofin is also produced, in phase 4 the raw syrupis produced and in phase 5 the liquid obtained from the pressing processis used in the process of diffusion of the soluble fraction in operation4.

Consequently, and according to another aspect of the invention, itprovides a natural carob fiber (NCF) which is characterized in that ithas the following composition:

    ______________________________________           Lignin   50-65%           Cellulose                    15-25%           Hemicellulose                    15-25%           Pectin   0.5-2%           Tannins  3-7%           Moisture 4-8%    ______________________________________

where the percentages are expressed in weight and are within certainlimits depending on the fruit (variety, harvest, agricultural land,etc.), except for the moisture which depends on the applications.

The product of the- invention is distinguished not only by the abovementioned composition but also by the following characteristics:

Physical characteristics:

A flour of varying particle size between 5 and 230 mesh (ASTM E11-70) or4 and 0.063 mm (DIN 4188) depending on applications and uses. Brown,odorless and completely tasteless.

Nutritional characteristics: According to the results of the researchwork carried out, the nutritional behavior of the fiber compared to thestandard (micro-crystalline cellulose) is similar in every aspect exceptthat it produces a reduction in the assimilation of fat and that the NCFalso has a significant hypocholesterol-aemiant effect.

Microbiological characteristics:

It is a practically inert in the development of microorganisms due toits low moisture content.

In order to determine the nutritional behavior of this fiber, and giventhat there is no specific technical documentation, a series of researchexperiments were carried out. The goals and results of the experimentswhich described in the following paragraphs.

First of all, the behavior of the NCF fiber was determined in terms of anumber of parameters related to the nutritional exploitation of thediet: ingestion, increase in weight, alimentary efficiency coefficient(AEC) and protein and lipid digestibility.

In normal diets no difference was found between standard fiber(cellulose) and NCF fiber in terms of ingestion, increase in weight,alimentary efficiency coefficient (AEC). A reduction was observed,however, in the Fat Digestibility Coefficient (FDC) due to an increasein the amount of fat eliminated as feces.

Once it was confirmed that the NCF fiber had not only no negativenutritional effect compared with standard fiber (microcrystallinecellulose), but that it added a difference in the behavior relating tofat absorption, a second stage of tests was carried out, again usinggrowing "Wistar" rats, in order to confirm and expand on the previousresults, The conclusions drawn from this stage can be summarized asfollows:

Independently of the level of fat in the diet, the NCF fibersignificantly reduces the increase in weight of animals per gram ofmaterial ingested.

Compared to diets containing cellulose, the NCF fiber significantlyreduces the absorption of protein but without negative metabolicconsequences, since the blocking of amino acid absorption does notappear to be selective on any essential amino acid.

Independently of the lipid content, the absorption of fat in a dietcontaining NCF fiber is also reduced compared to the control dietscontaining cellulose.

Under the experimental conditions, the NCF fiber has no negativeinfluence on the absorption of the minerals iron and zinc.

The hepatic deposits of liposoluble vitamins studied, retinol andvitamin E, were not significantly affected in the diets containing NCFcompared to the control diets.

The physiological effect produced by the carob pulp was further exploredand confirmed in the third stage, the effect producing a significant andimportant reduction in cholesterolaemia in diets with a high esterolcontent. Furthermore, it was also confirmed that the NCF fiber did notact in the way described above in the case of rats fed with normaldiets.

To do this, four different, isocaloric diets were prepared, adapted tothe requirements of the growing rat and in which the only variableswere:

1. Dietary fiber. (5%)

a.--Cellulose.

b.--NCF fiber

2. Cholesterol ingestion

a.--Diet without cholesterol

b.--Diet high in cholesterol (2%)

These diets were fed for 28 days to four groups each containing ten ratsborn on the same day, checking the ingestion on a daily basis Thefollowing parameters were determined individually for each of the tourgroups:

Ingestion

Increase in weight

Seric cholesterol

The results were statistically treated to establish a level ofsignificance of p 3/4 0.05, confirming the previous results:

There are no differences between the two types of fiber in terms ofingestion and increase in weight.

The increase of seric cholesterol in rats subjected to a highcholesterol diet is, in a group fed with a NCF diet, approximately halfthat of a group subjected to diets containing the control fiber(microcrystalline cellulose).

This effect was not exhibited in normolitemic rats.

We claim:
 1. A fiber composition, consisting essentially of:

    ______________________________________     Lignin                 50-65%     Cellulose              15-25%     Hemicellulose          15-25%     Pectin                 0.5-2%     Denatured Tannins      3-7%     Moisture               4-8%     ______________________________________

where the percentages are expressed in weight relative to a total weight of the fiber composition.
 2. A method of using a fiber composition in dietetic and food applications to lower plasma cholesterol levels, the fiber composition having hypocholesterolaemiant properties and consisting essentially of:

    ______________________________________     Lignin                 50-65%     Cellulose              15-25%     Hemicellulose          15-25%     Pectin                 0.5-2%     Denatured Tannins      3-7%     Moisture               4-8%     ______________________________________

where the percentages are expressed in weight relative to a total weight of the fiber composition, the method of using the fiber composition comprising the step of: ingesting the fiber composition. 